Automation at the workplace and its impacts on you

Much has been said about the future and automation at the workplace. Books, films and science fiction series always try to foresee how the world will be in a few years time. Movie classics such as Blade Runner and Back to the Future are examples that the human imagination goes further in this subject, and can predict both an optimistic world and a destruction scenario. But what about the forecasts within the professional scope? How will technology actually impact jobs and the work process?

Evolution of the workforce

Important job skills have changed over the past 50 years, from physical and manual to emotional and cognitive ones. To check this fact, just look back and realize that our ancestors carried out more repetitive and heavy functions, such as embroidering, building, repairing and so on. Nowadays, with full establishment of technology, most professionals spend the day in front of computers, analyzing metrics and reports, monitoring dashboards, and developing strategies for growth and productivity. We can perceive that the work and manual processes are getting increasingly scarcer, as technology advances exponentially. In fact, it is believed that 50% of current activities will be automated in the future.

Will the jobs we know be extinct?

Several experts say that the jobs we know won’t be extinguished in the short term. However, great changes began to emerge on the global scenario. In fact, the days of some jobs are numbered. Operational functions will decline dramatically, while managerial ones will grow considerably.

The professionals of the future and their skills

In the future, the profile of a successful professional will be quite different: a mix of soft, hard and meta skills.

Soft skills

The skills of human nature (creativity, critical thinking, social intelligence and communication).

Skills that involve a growth mindset, resilience, and the ability to cope with change and uncertainty. According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn, the ten most requested professional skills in résumés today are:

Creativity

Cloud data handling

Persuasion

Artificial intelligence

Collaboration

Analytic reasoning

Adaptability

People management

Time management

User experience design

Additionally, investing in intellectual, cultural, and age diversity will be crucial, in order to create versatile, above-average executive teams.

The way of leading will change too

As we reaffirm the importance of human skills, we can’t forget to talk about leadership. After all, leaders assumed an important role in building the corporate environment long time ago. People who are inflexible, methodical, authoritarian and unprepared for knowledge exchange have their days numbered.

The leadership of the future will recruit those who are willing to teach and learn, as well as being able to deal with the human factor. Nowadays, employees look for nice places to work, as they understand that they spend more time in the company than at home. Of all the changes in the job market, the word that stands out is ‘resilience’. To close the subject, we will end with an inspiring quote from Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”.

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